Juana reports ...      Edited and posted by Bill

JUANA'S SHELTER UPDATE:

We are so sad because of this ringworm situation

     Today was a very, very busy day, and that doesn't even begin to describe it. We still have the terrible ringworm problem, which weighs so heavily on our hearts and minds. We've had to change our precious doggies' routines. They haven't enjoyed their normal routine of caregiving time and personal attention for many, many weeks now. (We discovered our first case of ringworm fungus on June 23rd.) Our ringworm situation is just awful! 

Thank you, Volunteers at Adoption Day

     It was Saturday and we weren't able to attend our Adoption Day event again this week (and we won't be returning till the ringworm fungus is eradicated at Straydog. So it was another weekend of not being able to bring our dogs out into the community with the hopes of finding their very own forever homes with individual families. But David Rentz (who usually drives the dogs to Adoption Day and heads up our sessions) came to work today here at our shelter and helped us with our inside dogs. And, Marsha, Ashley and our other wonderful volunteers set up at Plano Petsmart East showing foster dogs and handing out our newsletters. Thank you, guys!

Very busy with a full crew today

     We had a full crew, plus two of my kids helped today. Thank you all! Everybody really worked very, very hard. As you know and as we've been reporting, we are using at least 35 to 45 big bottles of bleach every week and sometimes more. That's really costing Straydog a lot of money. We've also been spending a lot on medicine, dips, lotions and creams, in order to cure our dogs. We plan to try the acidophilus paste that our contributor Elsa S. has recommended. I've just been so overwhelmed with things and I keep forgetting. 
 

Volunteer Linda Arnold finds a bleach substitute, and we thank you, Linda!

     We have had some good news, thanks to volunteer Linda Arnold. She has been searching for something similar to bleach that doesn't cost as much. She found something that only costs 20 cents per gallon, wow! At the beginning of her email and notes to me she said that it was a cleaner/detergent and a deodorant. Nothing indicated that it killed ringworm fungus. Even after reading all of the material Dr. Morton didn't think that it would help with the ringworm problem. But after several phone calls, faxes, and emails, the manufacturer said that it should help and he would donate several gallons of this new stuff and we could see if we liked it. 

Gordie learns how to use the new disinfectant

     So last Monday the Buckeye International representative came to Straydog with this new product and talked to Bill, Linda and David Rentz and told them all about it. We tried it today and, oh boy, what a chore!  We started our day as we do every day. We stuck to the same routine, except we prepared and applied this new stuff in the kennels. Gordie was the man today. He read all of the instructions and I made him change his clothes into something that would completely protect him, so he wouldn't get this stuff on him. 

Toys are bleached

     Stephanie, David Ford and Wayne went to pick up all of the toys in the kennels and put them in the wheelbarrow. Stephanie and David soaked them with bleach and left them to dry off. They should be dry and ready for our dogs by tomorrow. 

Our crew holds the dogs as their kennels are being disinfected

     Gordie started with Fluffy and Scottie's outside kennel, since they are staying indoors. Then Sherri held on to Pokie and Sydney, while Gordie sprayed their entire outside kennel. The instructions were to let the foamy detergent sit for ten minutes and then rinse it off with water. After that it would be okay to let our dogs back into their kennels. We had nowhere to put all of the quarantined doggies who were suffering with ringworm fungus while we did this, so we had to have our crew hold our dogs on a leash for ten minutes just outside the kennel that Gordie was spraying. 

Some dogs have fun at the park today

     It was fun for the dogs who are not in quarantine. They got to go to the park for more than ten minutes today, wow! They were very happy. The first ones to go were Cindy and Jessie. Then we took Alice and Sally. Then we took Rosita, Purtis, and Little Big Boy. Penny got to go with Ruger, etc. All of them were very, very happy. 

We get through our long and busy day!

     We saw it was taking too long to spray, wait, rinse and wait, so we formed two teams. Wayne, David Ford and Sherri went to central area, doing the same thing as Gordie, Stephanie and I were doing. I had to run to central area and check things out, then come back and rinse one of my kennels. I had to stay while our crew took their breaks and then they were right back at it. I really wanted to take care of this big mess as soon as possible. Our regular daily routine is way too big a job and so is our daily kennel maintenance. So after 2:00 in the afternoon, I had to call it quits on this kennel spraying. We needed to feed our doggies, pick up after them and clean the kennel office. We had a big, long day. I mean bigger than ever, and our crew did such a wonderful job. And David Rentz and Lucy took care of our H1 dogs. Everybody did so well.
 
     Our crew stayed almost an hour later than they normally do, in order to catch up on things and finish up our day. I was very happy and very proud of our wonderful crew. Thank you so very much! 

MORE PICTURES from SATURDAY

Tipper gets brushed by Sherri today.